


black irises

by AjaysLullaby



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Some.violence in the beginning, nothing too graphic, this is pure indulgence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25369666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AjaysLullaby/pseuds/AjaysLullaby
Summary: Ajay and Revenant form a relationship. It's not conventional nor is it something most people would want. She doesn't care.
Relationships: Lifeline | Ajay Che/Revenant
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	black irises

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this is the first draft so like excuse any mistakes. I just had the Need To Write and this was produced.

_ Ping ping ping _

The sound of shots hitting walls and rocks surrounded them. The middle of firefight was always a hectic place to be.

"They 'ave us pinned! I can't get ta Octavio! He's gunna bleed out unless yuh do sumting!"

"Damn fleshbag, why should I care?!"

"If yuh wanna win yuh gun get him up!"

A growl was given, but his acceptance was issued from across the way, and the seven foot tall simulacrum darted out, leaping and sliding to the rock Octavio was bleeding out behind. Ajay couldn't help herself for a few brief moments, watching the deadly grace of the former man. It was almost enchanting. 

And then a bullet ricocheted off a rock next to her head and she cursed, ducking down and around, peaking and firing off her own shots. Hopefully she could provide enough cover fire for the two to get away and heal. 

"C'mon sista, ain't no need to draw this out haha!"

She adored Gibby, but sometimes she just wanted to punch him in the face. At least the blood sport murder games were a good way of taking out agression on each other without it being permanent. At least, for the physical aspect. The emotional and verbal was…much harder. But now wasn't the time to ponder that.

She adjusted her positioning, taking her Carbine off of full auto and onto single fire, popping shots as her teammates discussed a plan of action.

"I dun care what ya two do jus' hurry up an' do  _ sumting _ already. We still got one more team afta this!" 

Wattson peaked her head out, and Ajay put two shots into her skull, breaking the shields the engineer had, "Wattson broke! Hurry tha fuck up!"

"Jajajaja lets go amigo!"

"Enter the shadows...it wont corrupt you, much." He always had to be dramatic didn't he?

"Aye this thing sure takes you for a ride! HYA!" With that Octane pushed hard, form a smokey black-orange like embers. Revenant followed just behind, a snarl on his face. 

Ajay shielded quick, just a single cell, and followed them. She crawled up the rock Gibraltar was hiding behind, and dropped on him as Revenant downed Wattson with a vicious pistol whip and wingman shot.

Gibraltar swore, and tried to shoot her, but she jumped down and crouched, bringing her Prowler out, breaking his gun shield. Shots bit into her own shields, and she could feel the sting of them, underneath. But with a howl of rage, Revenant jumped over her and tackled the large man, snarling like a wild animal. He forwent any guns, slashing with his claws and kicking with his feet until the man was down, shots missing wildly as Gibraltar tried to fight back. It was useless, though. Revenant was smoke and ash, a lethal snake intangible as the wind around them. 

"I had that yuh know."

A grunt was her only reply.

"Yea yea you like the kills or whatever. Next time yuh take my kill I'll take you apart piece by piece."

He snarled and glared at her, but she didn't care. She glared right back, her own face twisted. Octavio was busy finishing Wattson in the background as the two stood off against each other.

"Why do you vex me so, skinbag? Are you not afraid of the shadows?" 

She huffed a laugh and went to respond, but caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

There wasn't time to speak, so instead she just  _ moved.  _ She ran and jumped, shoulder hitting hard metal as she tackled Revenant to the ground, grunting as her shields broke with the sniper shot to the side, the bite of the bullet making her gasp in pain. She wasn't out yet, but  _ fuck _ if it didn't hurt like a bitch.

"What the - get the hell off me skinsuit!"

She groaned and rolled to the side, off of the bot, hand pressed to her hip.

"Next time yuh could say thank ya, jackass."

A growl was the only verbal response, but instead of leaving her he sat up and kneeled on the ground, starting to fire back. He loomed over her like some sort of fucked up protector as she patched herself up, leaning back against whatever cover they had. She didn't even know where Octavio had disappeared to. All she could see was the water, the simulacrum over her, and the black dots on the edge of her vision. 

A sniper shot  _ pinged _ off of the ground not even two feet away and all she wanted to do was curse. Instead she shifted around under Revenant, using a medkit to patch herself back up, and a shield bat to get back into the fight. Once that was done she shimmed around onto her stomach, going prone and peaking the sniper from the opposite side and laying into them as best she could.

Rev and her kept up their fire, but they had nowhere to go. Except - Octavio was doing some stupid shit  _ again _ , flanking the sniper and - oh lords above - did he just  _ jump pad _ into them?

"We gotta push, Rev, it's now or never." She eyed the fight going on, determined and exasperated.

He nodded, and hauled her up by the back of her shirt, choking her a bit. He hadn't even commented on the "stupid nickname" she used for him occasionally. Progress was progress. She'd give him an earful later about the shirt thing, though. Now it was just time to win the damn game.

He leapt forward, silence flying through the air in front of them as she followed behind, sand spraying up from under their feet. Shots whizzed by and Octavio went down with a battle cry. The sniper - Wraith - finished him off before they got there.

"Fuck, Rev ya gotta push up, I'll flank around! It's jus' her, we can do this."

"Hurry your ass up, medic," was all he said as he scaled the rock Wraith had been perched on.

Ajay ran around to the side, reaching the back in record time. There was a downed person - she didn't take the time to look - hiding behind Octavio's deathbox. She slipped on the sand a bit as she passed by, throwing a hand out on to the rock to catch herself. 

_ Fuck _ she was going to kill Octavio for this. 

The sun was hot on her back as she rounded the side, Wraith's back to her as she fought Revenant, crouching to avoid shots.

Ajay grinned viciously and opened fire.

—

The medbay was quiet at this time of night, the soft lights of the different medical instruments giving a soft glow to the environment. She was still awake, side aching as she laid in bed. She really didn't  _ need  _ to be here, she would have rested just fine in her own quarters, and she would have been more comfortable. She was the only one stuck here, the fucking side wound she had taken for Revenant worse than she had initially thought.

"You look bored, skinsuit."

Ajay lazily looked up from the pad she had been on, glancing at the simulacrum.

"That's cause I am." She cocked an eyebrow at him in a silent question.

He scoffed, eyes twirling orange as he stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, hunched over in the room not designed for people that tall.

"You could have just let me take the bullet, medic." He tilted his head to the side, much like a curious cat.

She let out a soft laugh, and motioned for him to come closer. This was definitely more interesting than surfing the web. "Ya were my teammate, I'm not gun' let you jus' get shot like that."

He stalked forward, towering over her. She wasn't scared though. She was kind of excited, honestly. The simulacrum made her feel that way, and she shivered, straightening up, ignoring the twinge in her side.

"Yet you're content with taking the bullet for me, thus incapacitating yourself and potentially risking the win."

"Ya good at killing. I trusted yuh that if I went down, yuh could handle it."

"So I'm just a killing machine to you?" 

She shook her head, "Nuh, jus' that ya good at it. I know there's more ta ya than that. Yuh jus' dun let anyone see it."

He hummed in thought, leaning closer to her, eyes turning yellow. "Why are you so insistent on getting to know me,  _ Che _ ?" The way he practically  _ purred _ her name made her shiver with delight. It was a sin for a voice to sound so attractive and dangerous at the same time. She thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Because I'm curious about ya. How many times do I gotta tell yuh?" She stared defiantly into his eyes, leaning forward and ignoring the pain in her side. She so badly wanted to close the gap, but held herself back.

He reached up and grasped her by the back of her head, metal digits threading through loose hair. It wasn't painful, just a bit uncomfortable. He used his grip to pull her forward, her cheek brushing his metal one.

He spoke into her ear, "Careful, Che, when you play with monsters." 

She let out a little breath, and spoke back. "I gave up mosta my humanity joinin' these games. I'm not scared to lose, Revenant."

He chuckled, the sound reverberating through her. "You should be more afraid of winning, medic."

With that he released her and slipped back into the shadows, all in one breath before she could even process what had just been said.

—

The next time they ended up in the ring, it was on opposite sides. Their squads were off fighting, and it was just the two of them alone, in the dilapidated old house. She wasn't going to give up. No matter how much she wanted to know him, she would beat him or literally die trying.

And die she did, knocked by a final bullet to the leg.

She snorted, holding her wound. Sometimes he was just too damn good. But instead of the usual play time he liked, he was silent, regarding her with yellow eyes. That was odd. 

"Yuh tired of playin' witcha food, Rev?"

He grunted, raised his weapon, and popped her in a quick succession of shots. The pain barely registered before she found herself on the drop ship respawn bay. 

That was unusual for him. He loved to play around and draw out the death of whoever he felled. Yet here he was, ending her life quickly. Something to think on.

—

Months later, and she finally got answers. Just not how she was expecting. 

—

Ajay was in the Overlook, a cup of coffee in her hands. She was thinking about the match a few days before. She had actually gotten the drop on the simulacrum, and had downed him. Something almost  _ primal _ had taken hold of her, and she had dropped to her knees and taken his face into her hands. He had just let her, quietly watching with twirling yellow eyes.

She had pressed her forehead to his, before grabbing her pistol and raising it to the side of his head, shooting him once.

Now it was all she could think about. The slightly warm metal beneath her fingers, the way his eyes tracked her, his lack of action against her. She wanted  _ more. _

"I can feel you thinking from over here. Stop it." The tone was less demanding than she expected. 

Ajay turned, spying the bot halfway out of the shadows of the wall.

"Yuh make me think. Can't help it yuh know?"

He snorted. "I've done nothing to warrant such contemplation."

"Was exactly ya lack of action that's makin' me think so much." She hummed and set her coffee down on the railing, moving toward him.

He stepped forward, into the starlight spilling in from the windows. "And what have I not done?"

She stopped in front of him, and slowly reached up. "Somethin' like this."

He made no move to stop her, letting her hands softly make contact with his face plates. She stood on her tippy toes and pulled him down. He went without resistance. It was surprising. She expected a fight. Yet there was nothing but compliance. 

"If yuh want me ta stop yuh just let me know, ya hear me?"

He grunted, eyes twirling as they studied her. He was contemplative, quiet and almost reserved. It was unusual to see him in such a state and she valued it.

Ajay slowly tilted her face up and pressed her cheek to his, the metal a pleasant temperature to her own slightly flushed skin. She took a steadying breath and turned her head slightly, pressing her lips to the metal she so achingly touched.

It was only a few brief seconds, and the simulacrum made no move against or for her, so she felt more confident in herself as she pulled back, hand sliding down his neck to his shoulder. She was careful not to catch any wires or tubes as she did, and gently she set her hand down on his shoulder plates.

She sighed softly and stepped closer, carefully resting her head on his plated chest.

"Yuh just gun' turn ta a statue? If yuh dun like it I can back off ya know?" She said, glancing up at him and making to step back. She didn't want to scare him off. But something strange happened as she started to move, and realized she couldn't go very far. There was something holding her down -  _ Revenant  _ was holding her down.

One of his arms was curled around her waist, holding her in place. Ajay gazed up at him, his blue eyes flickering a bit as they stared down at her. 

"Che," he started, voice heavy, full of something implacable, "Why do you  _ insist _ so damn hard that I am worth your affections? Why do you even assume I could ever  _ feel _ for a skinsuit?"

She laughed and rested her head again upon his chest. "Cause ya were like me, yuh still are even with a body made o' metal an' oil. Ya feel, ya hurt, ya  _ mourn _ . For all tha rage ya put into tha world, I could alway tell there was more to it. I didn't know if yuh would be interested in a human still but I had ta try. Yuh just…capture my attention in ways no other could. Maybe part of it's that ya not totally human. Maybe part of it is that you act so wild. I dun want ta change ya. I  _ like _ tha wild an' the danger an' the slightly less-than-human."

His arm curled around her tighter, pulling her in more. He pushed his face into her hair and growled low, the danger she spoke of rolling out of him and vibrating through her. She went a little weak, hanging on to the simulacrum and trying to keep her composure. Damn it all this was  _ not _ how she saw this going at all.

"You vex me so, Che. You speak of the  _ humanity _ in me and yet you say that my lack of it draws you in. You don't want to  _ change me _ yet you already have." He let out a very human sounding sigh of frustration, and she could feel herself lose just a little bit more to him. She was already so far gone.

"An' how've I changed ya? I barely done anythin'." 

He snarled quietly - because that was just something he  _ could _ do - and pulled back, blue eyes still trained upon her. "I have never felt more at peace than I have right now, since discovering what Hammond did to me. Twenty five years. And a tiny little fleshbag with no self preservation instincts makes me feel this way. It's ridiculous."

She stared at him in surprise. He was opening up to her. Was she dreaming?

"Years of revenge and killing, and in a matter of months you make me want to just stand still. It's  _ infuriating. _ " 

He carefully moved a claw tipped hand to brush her cheek, almost tender. Ajay didn't know what to say, except stare wide eyed at the being before her.

"Now who's turned to a statue?" He let out a rough chuckle, shaking his head.

"I jus'...Thank you for sharin' wit me. I'm glad I can give ya somethin' different."

She really didn't know how to express what she felt. Funny considering the murderous simulacrum seemed to have an easier time of it.

His eyes shuttered for a brief second, and she was quiet in thought.

"I wan' ya, in whateva way yuh decide to give me. I dun' expect ya to throw ya games fuh me, I certainly won't. I jus' wan'  _ you _ an' nothin' more."

He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers, eyes still glowing blue like the stars behind them. It was silent, the very air still as the drop ship hummed around them. Just them, in their little bubble, twined together. 

—

After that moment Ajay made it a point to keep her door cracked. The simulacrum came to her randomly. Sometimes they spoke. She would tell him of her travels, the people she helped. The guilt that dragged her down every day over her parents. Over Octavio. He in return told her of the worlds he been to, the lives he lived for the almost three hundred years he had been alive. Of the scum he had killed, of the wonder at the lives that had never been real and how he would never truly know wjich life had been  _ his. _

Sometimes they were silent, just spending time in each others presence. She would tinker with doc, or surf the web. He would just rest, eyes off against the wall. 

Other times she would fix him up when there was something he couldn't reach. More and more often this happened, even when it was accessible to him. She would even sew up his headwrap when it got torn in the ring. She enjoyed the menial work. She knew words only went so far. She  _ liked _ proving herself to him, doing different things to show she wanted him and nothing from him except what he would give. 

Sometimes, things would show up in her room. They were things she'd off handedly mention to others about wanting or needing or liking and within the next few days sometimes that thing would show up. He never said anything, and she never actually  _ saw  _ him with the things, but she knew with a fine certainty it was him. 

Their relationship wasn't exactly  _ romantic  _ in the regular sense. It wasn't grand, or covered in prose. They didn't proclaim their love when they could, or make sweet gestures for one another.

It was rough and dirty, and in the ring they pulled no punches against the other. Often they tried their hardest against the other, but together they were  _ terrifying. _ The other legends didn't really understand what had happened between the medic and the simulacrum. Ajay didn't care.

All she knew was that Revenant had accepted her choosing him, and he had chosen her back. And she was in it for the long haul now. 

She might be a medic, might not like hurting innocents, but the fact was Revenant was revenge driven. And if she was honest, no one involved with the Syndicate was ever truly innocent. Herself included. 

So she adapted, prodded him on the who's and why's, focused his rage. It wasn't perfect, nothing ever was, but he allowed her to do it, and that was all that mattered. He never commented on it. Neither did she.

A clawed hand turned her head to the side, making her face him. She smiled softly, focusing back to the present.

"You think too much."

"An' yuh dun' think enough."

He grunted and shook his head, hand sliding down her neck and pulling her in close.

"What has you so far away? Aren't you supposed to be focusing on me?"

"I was thinkin' bout us."

She leaned in to him, fingers playing with the cloth of his hood.

"Us?" He questioned lowly, eyes a teal green.

"Yeah,  _ us. _ We've become somethin'. It jus' make me happy."

"I don't know how whatever we have makes you  _ happy _ , but by all means fleshsuit."

She laughed and pulled away, sticking her tongue out. Sometimes there were moments like this - peaceful and  _ human  _ \- that happened, and she adored it. Maybe it wasn't the sweetest relationship, but it had its moments.

"Hey, yuh were human once. Cantcha make an exception fuh me? Can't even call me Che now?" She said, a mock-pout on her face.

He sighed and shook his head, "You continue to confound me."

She smiled at that. "Good, then I'm doin' it right."

He growled, but it wasn't threatening. She just smiled wider and reached out, grabbing his hand. She pulled him toward the bench, backing up as she did. The back of her knees eventually hit metal and she sat without looking.

He stood before her, looming over her once again. It was a common occurrence, but she was used to it by now.

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"Well usually people sit, ya know?"

"Meh."

Yet he still stalked over and sat next to her, hand still holding hers.

"Lemme look at ya, wanna make sure I got everything from before."

He sat up straighter and faced away, exposing his back, where she had been patching him up before.

Ajay released his hand and leaned forward, examining the patches. It was relaxing work, and she enjoyed the quiet. So she worked like that, the two of them comfortable. His eyes were shut off, and Ajay was curious as to his thoughts. But she didn't dare disturb the peace. She valued it too much.

"You know…I could get you out of the games, if you wanted."

She blinked, pausing and looking up from her work. "'Scuse me?"

"If you wanted out of these games. If you were tired of it. I could get you out."

From him, it was practically a declaration of love and fealty. She was  _ stunned _ .

"I-what makes ya think I could want out?"

"You sound it, sometimes. Like you've lost your way."

"I regret. Wish I had taken a different path. But I'm here now an' there ain't nuthin' to be done bout it. I still have you. I still have myself," she said, voice soft.

"Ajay."

She stared. It was all she could do as he turned to face her, eyes glowing a soft yellow.

"You are going to destroy yourself if you keep on like this. The  _ moment _ you start to want out, I'll give you out."

"Then what happens to yuh? To us? Yuh jus' leave me behind, go back to the mindless killin' an' tha rage? I'm  _ not _ givin' us up. I worked too damn hard for it."

"Damn it all Ajay, I'm trying to show I care for you! You deserve better!" He growled out, clawed hands finding their way to either side of her face.

One of her own came of to cover his, and she spoke softly. "I know yuh care. Yuh don't have to point it out or make it that obvious. But I dun' want ta leave ya behind. I refuse ta."

He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers, "You  _ will _ be the death of me, Ajay Che. I just hope you won't be the death of yourself."


End file.
